Jessie Con-ui, the suspect in the fatal Feb. 25 attack on a correctional officer at the United States Penitentiary at Canaan, has been moved to ADX Florence, the supermaximum security prison in Colorado known as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."

A spokesman for the Federal Bureau of Prisons would not disclose a reason for the transfer, which occurred Friday.

ADX Florence houses more than 400 of the most ruthless criminals in federal custody, according to prison records, including Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski, Oklahoma City bombing accomplice Terry Nichols and Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui.

Con-ui, 36, had been locked away at the United States Penitentiary at Allenwood, a high-security facility near Williamsport, since he allegedly ambushed and killed correctional officer Eric Williams at Canaan in Wayne County.

A retired federal prison warden called the transfer "a little unusual." An inmate like Con-ui, "would normally go out to Florence after sentencing," the warden, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Tuesday. "Why they sent this guy there, I find that odd."

Inmates at ADX Florence, considered the "most secure prison in the world," are isolated from each other and spend 23 hours a day locked in their cells, the retired warden said. They are escorted by a minimum of three officers for their five hours of private recreation per week. The facility has the most advanced interior and exterior security mechanisms of the 119 facilities in the federal prison system and is staffed by the best trained staff in the bureau, he said.

The retired warden cited Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who spent time at ADX Florence before his execution in 2001, as the prototypical inmate at the facility.

"Someone who is extremely dangerous or extremely violent, or an inmate who has a high notoriety-type offense," the retired warden said.

A federal judge identified Con-ui, a gang member and convicted murderer from Arizona, as the suspect within two weeks of Williams' death.

Con-ui was scheduled to complete his 11-year federal drug trafficking sentence in September and would have immediately been returned to Arizona to serve 25 years to life for killing a gang rival.

After the attack on Williams, prison officials swiftly transferred Con-ui, first to Allenwood and then ADX Florence. If convicted, Con-ui could face the death penalty.

Con-ui's court-appointed attorneys, James A. Swetz and the renowned death-penalty expert Mark Fleming, did not return telephone messages Tuesday. Con-ui's transfer to ADX Florence, 1,780 miles from Canaan, could be a sign the authorities are not prepared to charge him for some time, the retired warden said.

Another potential reason, he said, could have been the "emotional involvement" of having him jailed at Allenwood, only about 110 miles from Canaan.

"Allenwood is not very far away from Canaan and you're going to have connections among the staff," he said.

The move, however, could have been intended all along and cell space just opened up at the supermaximum facility, federal prison consultant Cheri Nolan said.

"You have to be pretty special to earn a ticket there," Nolan, a deputy assistant attorney general under President George W. Bush, said. "Either you're notorious or considered especially dangerous."

Nolan toured ADX Florence, the only supermaximum security facility of the 119 federal prisons, in 2004, while a member of the advisory board for the National Institute of Corrections, a federal agency that supports correctional programs.

"I've never seen anything like it as far as the technology and physical set up. Once you're inside you really can't tell where you are - what's north, south, east or west. The way it's designed, it's an interesting kind of setup," Nolan said. "Because of the high value of targets they have there - on a world scale, whether it be a drug cartel or terrorists - they are as concerned with someone trying to get in to break someone out as much as they are about inmates trying to escape. The protection around the prison is pretty remarkable."

bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2055

msisak@citizensvoice.com, 570-821-2061

Jessie Con-ui, the suspect in the murder of a federal correctional officer from Nanticoke, was transferred Friday to the highest security prison in the federal system, ADX Florence in Colorado. The supermaximum facility is the sixth federal prison Con-ui has been housed in since he entered the system in September 2008.

Sept. 2, 2008: Con-ui placed in the U.S. Penitentiary at Victorville in Adelanto, Calif.

Oct. 26, 2010: Transferred to the U.S. Penitentiary at Pollock in Louisiana.

March 28, 2011: Moved to the U.S. Penitentiary at Coleman in Florida.

Oct 3., 2011: Entered the Canaan prison in Wayne County, Pa.

Feb. 26, 2013: Following the murder of correctional officer Eric Williams, Con-ui is transferred to U.S. Penitentiary at Allenwood, Union County.

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